Church contribution envelope



Sept. 26, 1967 J. s. PROBST 3,343,749

CHURCH CONTRIBUTION ENVELOPE Filed April 27, 1966 INVENTOR JOHN STANLEY PROBST ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,343,749 CHURCH CONTRIBUTION ENVELOPE John Stanley Probst, East Liverpool, Ohio, assignor to The American Paper Products Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Apr. 27, 1966, Ser. No. 545,679 1 Claim. (Cl. 229-72) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to a church contribution envelope of the duplex type, i.e., one having two pockets to permit contributions to be made for two funds or purposes with the use of but one envelope, and in particular to an envelope of this kind that may be made with a minimum consumption of adhesive and paper. This is done by providing an envelope blank having first and second panels joined by a fold line and adapted to overlie each other when the envelope is folded, flaps attached to the sides of the first and second panels, the flaps being of reduced dimension in comparison with said panels to permit readier access to the pockets formed thereby and being without adhesive, a first tab associated with one end of the first and second panels and having adhesive on one side thereof to secure the flaps in a position folded against the panels, and a second tab at the other end of one of the panels and having adhesive thereon to secure the envelope closed.

This invention relates generally to envelopes and more particularly to envelopes having two separate pockets to separate articles contained therein.

Frequently an organization receives money or other items from a single source which must be divided between two or more accounts. For example, many churches accept contributions from members which are designated for different uses. That is, it is not uncommon for a church to have both a building fund account and also a general fund to which the members contribute. In the past it has been a common practice in these instances to provide two different sets of envelopes to each member wishing to contribute to both accounts. The members then put their contributions to the building fund in the building fund envelope and to the general fund in the general fund envelopes. This is not only expensive in that dual sets of envelopes must he provided for each member wishing to make contributions to the separate funds, but it is also timeconsuming to separate the envelopes and separately tally each members contribution to each fund. There is an additional disadvantage to this two-envelope type system in that the two envelopes may become confused and the person mixes contributions.

It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide an envelope having two pockets for separating items placed in the envelope.

It is an additional more particular object of this invention to provide an envelope having two easily accessible, identifiable pockets for the separation of articles placed in the envelope.

Still a further and more specific object of this invention is to provide a relatively inexpensive envelope particularly adapted for church donations, for the separating of contributions of members for two separate funds.

These and other objects, together with a fuller understanding of the invention, may be had from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a blank from which the envelope of this invention is formed;

FIG. 2 shows the first step in folding of the blank to form an envelope wherein the two side extensions are folded over to form two pockets;

FIG. 3 shows the next step in forming of an envelope from the blank wherein a bottom extension from the panels is folded up and sealed to the side flaps to secure the side flaps in forming the pockets;

FIG. 4 shows the envelope folded, ready for sealing; and

FIG. 5 shows the sealing tab, sealing the envelope closed.

Referring now to the drawings and for the present to FIG. 1, a paper blank for forming an envelope according to this invention is shown. The blank includes a pair of panels 10 and 12 functionally divided by a scored line 14. Side flap extensions 16 and 18 extend from the side edges of the panels 10 and 12 respectively and are connected thereto along scored fold lines 20 and 22 respectively. A gummed sealing extension 24 extends from the lower edges of the panels 10 and 12 and is connected thereto along scored fold lines 26. A gummed sealing tab 28 extends from the upper edge of the panel 12 and is connected thereto along a perforated fold line 30. Both the extension 24 and sealing tab 28 are provided with glue or other mucilage.

In order to form the envelope, the first step is to fold the side flaps along scored fold lines 20 and 22 so that they overlap the panels 10 and 12 as shown in FIG. 2. As can be seen, the side flaps 16 and 18 are smaller than the side panels 10 and 12 so as to provide easy access to the pockets which are formed by the folding of the flaps 16 and 18. Also, as seen in FIG. 2, suitable indicia can be printed on the face of the flaps 16 and 18 to indicate the intended use for each of the pockets. The bottom extension 24 is then folded along the scored fold line 26 to overlie the flaps 16 and 18 and is glued thereto as shown in FIG. 3 finishing the formation of the envelope. This provides two secure pockets for accepting currency, checks or the like.

When the envelopes are to be used, the contributions are put in their respective pockets and the envelope folded shut, as shown in FIG. 4. The tab 28 is then sealed onto the panel 10, as shown in FIG. 5. The envelope can then be dropped in the collection plate or put in another envelope and sent through the mail, or otherwise delivered to the receiver. The envelope can then be opened easily by tearing along the perforated line 30 to remove the money inserted therein.

Although the invention has been described for use in church collections it is obvious that it has much wider application of any situation where any items being sent from one person to another are to be divided into two separate accounts.

Having thus described the invention in an embodiment thereof, I am aware that numerous and extensive departures may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

A blank for making a duplex church contribution envelope, said blank comprising first and second panels joined along a fold line and disposed to overlie each other when said envelope is closed, means forming first and second pockets on said first and second panels respectively, said means comprising first and second flaps attached to the sides of said first and second panels respectively,

3 4 said first and second flaps being devoid of adhesive and References Cited of reduced dimensions in comparison with said first and UNITED STATES PATENTS second panels, a first tab associated with one end of said first and second panels and having adhesive applied to 927339 7/1909 Earle 229 72 one side of said blank for securing said first and second 5 1,163,459 12/1915 Rheum 229 69 flaps against said first and second panels, and a second 1586016 5/1926 wfllters tab associated with an opposite end of but one of said first 1951955 3/1934 Wilde 229 69 and second panels and having adhesive applied to the same side of said blank for securing the envelope when JOSEPH LECLAIR P'lmary Exammer' folded in a closed position. 10 DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Examiner. 

